NY Fashion Week Recap – A Few Trends for Fall

With the shows over and the tents all packed up, PSFK is noticing a couple of interesting trends emerge for fall. Overall, we’re seeing a more serious, grown-up approach to fashion, which is good considering we had been worried about a flood of hot pink and tween-worthy styles.

Sophisticated, modest tailoring & silhouettes dominated the runways, banishing free-spirited boho chic once and for all. Mini-skirts were few and far between, waists were higher, and fabrics were luscious without being luxurious. While there were a fair amount of prints to be seen, they fell into three basic categories, all pretty intellectual/worldly: Art-inspired prints; ethnic, travel-inspired prints; and pixelated or oversized florals.

As far as color, as PSFK reported pre-Fashion Week, the most popular hues chosen by designers this year were hardly typical for fall. There was a notable lack of warm, earthy autumn tones, with designers opting more often for soft blues, purples and grays. Makeup was muted as well — no harsh lines or garish colors, but rather a soft, natural, un-pretentious look.

A couple of other, more exciting trends include a time warp back to two very fun eras: the Roaring Twenties (represented by drop-waists, tassels, and pixie haircuts) and the Grunge Era of the mid-90s (several collections brought shredded jeans and rocker-chic back into the mainstream). It’s interesting though – both the sophisticated collections and the 20s/90s-inspired collections, while aesthetically completely different, might be motivated by the same social conditions. In these highly unstable financial, political, and cultural times, it could be that designers are trying to capture an era – whether past or future – that literally exudes stability and optimism.